


Firelords Need Vacations Too

by creaturesthatwontdie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, Gen, Post-War, The Jasmine Dragon (Avatar)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creaturesthatwontdie/pseuds/creaturesthatwontdie
Summary: Zuko goes to the Jasmine Dragon when being a firelord gets to be too hectic.or, five times a friend found Zuko at the tea shop, and one time he found them.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 137





	Firelords Need Vacations Too

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first completed and posted fic! It's part of the atla new year fic exchange for 2020, written for @angstyfangirl32 on tumblr!

Being the firelord is hard.

Being a seventeen year old firelord? Even harder.

Everyone seems to have different ideas of what Zuko should do - make reparations to this village, send something to that island instead, don't give away supplies. Dismantle the propaganda system, don't mess with the theatre, assign this person to take care of the schooling, no, that person. Learn these customs, but do this first, and remember this trivial fact. Listen to the advisors, make your own decisions. 

It all became very overwhelming. Sometimes, Zuko just needed to get away. Luckily for him, Uncle started up his own little tea shop only an hours walk away. Zuko was meant to take an ostrich horse any time he wanted to visit, but the whole purpose of this trip was to evade the castle guards and slip away. So, he did just that. As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, he was off.

Zuko arrived at the tea shop, but it was already closed. It was a mild weather night, and there was a window open on the second floor. He scaled the wall and entered the dark room. A couple seconds later, the door creaked open and a lantern cast light on Zuko's face. 

"Ahh!" Uncle Iroh dropped the lantern on his foot. "Nephew! What are you doing up here in the dark? You gave me quite a fright."

"I needed a get-away. Don't worry, I left instructions on my desk for the meetings. They won't be missing me for a day."

Uncle Iroh fixed him with a knowing look. "They won't be missing you? I wonder why you crept away in the dark of the night then. No matter, it's late. Let's get some sleep. There's extra bedding over there."

"Thanks, Uncle." 

*****

Zuko rose with the sun, feeling more refreshed than he had in months. He decided to help out Uncle, and tied his apron around his waist before getting to work opening the shop. Soon, customers started trickling in. Thanks to Zuko's long hair shielding parts of his face, no one seemed to recognize the firelord. Only Lee. It was just the break he needed. 

Of course, that all ended when a certain earthbender arrived.

"Sparky!" The loud greeting was Zuko's only warning before Toph tackled him in a hug. He looked over at Uncle with a pleading expression. 'Help!'. Uncle just shook his head and smiled.

Zuko peeled his arms out from under her not-so-surprisingly strong grip. "Hi Toph."

"What are you doing here? Don't you have papers to sign and portraits to pose for?"

"I snuck out."

"Right on!", Toph grinned and punched his shoulder. 

"Don't tell anyone I'm here. I'll go back tomorrow, I just want to be Lee today." Out of all the people, he was glad Toph was the one to show up. She was never one for following the rules, and understood the need to escape a stifling environment.

"No problem Sparky. You owe me a tea. Preferably a cup of pu-erh."

"Thanks, Toph. I'll go grab you one."

*****

Zuko's advisors weren't too happy about his excursion, but they got over it pretty quickly. They promised to find ways to work better with him, as long as he promised to schedule times to go to his Uncle's tea shop instead of sneaking out. He agreed reluctantly, with the caveat that unless it was a dire emergency, he wasn't to be disturbed. 

Eventually the work slowed down a bit. Zuko decided to treat himself to a tea shop visit.

This time, he arrives in the morning. Uncle doesn't seem very surprised to see him, and Zuko wonders if his advisors sent word ahead of time.

"Nephew! I've missed you," Uncle Iroh says, pulling him into a hug.

Zuko rolls his eyes. "It's only been a few weeks," he replied, but returned the hug.

"A lot can happen over the course of a few weeks. The tides can shift. Empires can fall. Old men can miss their nephews." Uncle Iroh pulled away and smoothed out Zuko's robes. "Let's get you in an apron."

*****

After the lunch rush died down, Zuko went to take a break outside and promptly collapsed into a chair. On nice days like this, where everyone is out and about, the business level can rival that of being the firelord. But whereas being the firelord is all about talking and paperwork and speeches, working in a hot tea shop is all about running back and forth on aching feet. So similar, and yet such opposites.

"Come around here often?" 

Zuko jerked up, making his chair fall backwards. It hooked around his ankle and pulled him to the ground with it. Directly into a pile of mud. He glared at Sokka, who was clutching his stomach with the strength of his laughter. 

"Aw man! You should see your face. That reminds me - I have to show you this totally cool new invention I've been working on, it's basically an instant painting! Did you know your guards lied to me? They said you were sick. Isn't that treason?". The rambling boy offered a hand. Zuko took it, and pulled Sokka down into the mud with him.

"There. Now we're even. And I'm not sick. Just needed a get-away." 

"Good place to have a get-away. Screaming customers and fifty pound tea boxes."

"A day of routine where no one knows who I am, except for Uncle."

"Yeah that must be pretty appealing. I'll go get Katara, she can spray us clean."

Zuko thought to protest, but Katara would probably find out he was here either way. What's one more person in on it?

*****

The third time Zuko left the palace, it was the anniversary of his mothers disappearance. He already had his schedule cleared for the day, and he arrived right as the sun broke the horizon.

Uncle Iroh was sitting at the door waiting for him. He wordlessly offered a cup of jasmine tea and a hug to the young firelord.

The first half of the day passed quickly. Take an order, make the tea, collect the payment, try not to mix orders up, repeat. Lunchtime came, and they closed the shop up to go eat in the backyard. They watched the birds together, sitting in a comforting silence. When it was time to go back inside, the lobby wasn't as empty as it should be.

"Hey Zuko! Hi Uncle Iroh!" Aang waved. He crossed the room quickly and gave a hug to the firelord. "I heard about today being your mom's anniversary," (Zuko squinted at that - barely anyone knew. How Aang found out was a mystery.) "so I brought you flowers!" He pointed to where a vase of fire lillies rested on a table. "I know flowers make people happy. If you want, I wanted to keep you company today." 

Zuko stepped back, processing the request. "You want to stay here? I'm working. It'd be boring."

"I'll work too! We'll make it fun. You shouldn't be without a friend today."

Zuko smiled. After everything, they're friends. He has a friend. "Sure. Let's go find you an apron."

*****

If Zuko knew this was going to happen, he never would have come to the tea shop today. The day started out innocently enough. Slow customer traffic had Zuko relaxed. Until a familiar boy with brown hair entered, looking wary.

"Jet?"

The boys head jerked towards Zuko, emotions flashing quickly across his face before settling on a tight-lipped neutral expression. "Lee." He nodded in greeting.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've been trying to find you. To apologize."

"You don't have to apologize, Jet."

"No, but I want to. I knew you were firebenders, but you weren't actively hurting anyone. Judging by that scar, seems like you were trying to hide from the fire nation too."

Zuko raised a hand to touch his face guiltily. "Actually.. You weren't wrong. I was hunting the Avatar."

Jet shifted into a defensive stance. "You were what?!"

"I'm not anymore! We're actually pretty close friends now! Hear me out." Zuko sat down, gesturing to the other chair pleadingly.

"I'll stand. I'm listening."

******

It was dark by the time Zuko finished telling his story. Jet simply nodded, set down his cup, and walked out. At least he didn't seem angry.

Since it was so late, Zuko sent a coded message to the palace and spent the night upstairs with Uncle. When he opened his eyes the next morning, he yelped and leapt across the room!

There, sitting in a chair and drinking tea like it was a normal morning, was Azula.

"Calm down, Zuzu." She rolled her eyes. "You were always so dramatic."

"What are you doing here?"

The self-assured expression on her face faltered for just a moment. It was enough to show how vulnerable she really was under her mask. "What, no warm welcome? And to think I spent such an effort on breaking out to come see my brother and give him a birthday present." She tsk'ed. "Well, your loss." She moved quickly to the door, graceful as always.

"Wait. You don't have to leave. Let me get dressed and we can get some food downstairs." With her face turned towards the door, Zuko almost missed the way a hesitant smile appeared.

"Don't keep me waiting."

******

"So, what'd you get me?"

Azula nodded towards the table. There was a rectangular shape, covered up with a cloth. 

"Is it a bomb?" Zuko asked, mostly joking. 

She huffed. "Please, as if I'd waste time on building a bomb. If I wanted to take you out, I already would have."

Zuko chooses not to point out that she already tried, and failed. Instead, he uncovered the present.

It was a beautiful piece of stained glass. The background was a sun, and in the middle, flames overlapped, swirling around each other in different colours. It reminded him of the dragon's fire. 

"Wow," he breathed out, holding it up to the light. It sparkled in such a way that the flames seemed to be moving. "Azula, I love it. Thank you."

She shrugged, studying her nails. "Of course you do, I made it. I should head back before they assemble a manhunt. They wouldn't want me 'out of my cage and causing chaos'."

Zuko carefully set down the stained glass. "I won't tell them where you were if you won't. Thanks for coming, Azula."

She looked at him, gaze softening for just a moment, before she patted him on his head and left the tea shop.

*****

A week later, Zuko turned eighteen. The few advisors that actually knew it was his birthday were sworn to secrecy. His dad never celebrated his birthday, and Zuko didn't see any reason to make a fuss now. Instead of a party, his day was filled with meetings.

Uncle Iroh seemed to have other plans. Come lunchtime, a message was sitting on his desk.

Dearest Nephew,  
Come to the tea shop immediately. There is no emergency, but your presence is greatly required.  
Love,  
Uncle

Zuko groaned and rubbed his face. He was really just trying to get through the day as quickly as possible. But, it probably wouldn't hurt to take the afternoon off. 

He went to notify the advisors of his absence, but it seemed like they already expected it. Strange.

A short ride on the ostrich horse later and Zuko arrived at the tea shop. Uncle Iroh was waiting outside with a suspicious smile on his face. 

"Nephew! Come inside, quickly." He ushered him through the front door. Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. The main room was full of people. Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph sat around a table full of presents. Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee were chatting near the side of the room. Surprisingly enough, Jet and the Freedom Fighters were there too, along with Jin from the Earth Kingdom. One by one, they all noticed Zuko hesitating by the door. Sokka whooped, and everyone hurried to greet him.

"Zuko!" "Hey Zuko!" "Happy Birthday!" "'Sup Sparky." "We missed you!" "Come here." 

That last one was Mai, pulling him into a one-armed hug. "What are you all doing here?" Zuko asked.

"It's your birthday!" Aang announced excitedly. 

Uncle Iroh gestured towards Ty Lee's table. "All of your friends wanted to host a celebration for you, and Ty Lee baked pastries."

Zuko looked around the room at all the grinning faces. "Wow. You guys didn't need to do all this."

Sokka bounded up to him and gave him a shoulder bump. "Of course we did! Now come eat the first pastry so I can eat one too."

Zuko laughed and grabbed a pastry to bite into. It was warm, and flaky, and utterly delicious. 

Zuko woke up this morning expecting for it to be just another day. But being here at the tea shop, surrounded by people who care about him, eating a delicious pastry, is so much better.

Being a firelord at eighteen is hard.

Being a firelord at eighteen when you have friends who support you? Well, that's better than what he ever could have asked for.


End file.
